Floods, fishing, windmills and gardens, last week’s column published in the Littlehampton Gazette October 18th 2112

Cool clear water

Some months ago I suggested a solution to the eternal and notorious Sea Road puddle, but no one appears to be interested other than, I suspect, the unfortunate dog walker, who this very day got soaked by the giant splash from a passing vehicle. I don’t ever recall a time when that puddle wasn’t there and fail to see why, with its convenient juxtaposition to the beach, water cannot be directed underground to the shingle. It is only rainwater and offers no threat to the environment. Surely it is not beyond the wit of LA engineers!

The Windmills of my mind

Do we have to consult with outside consultants who seem to have little empathy with the area or its people and are almost guaranteed to tell us that which we do not want to know? Give The Academy a pool and fitness suite of its own by all means but leave ours where it was destined to be and for goodness sake stop threatening The Windmill and getting the wind up our sails every couple of years or so. Push off, go away, scarper, we like and use what we have. Life in LA isn’t all about raising cash by selling prime land for housing or hotels, it is about community, service and people.

Gone fishing

Here is a fishing puzzle. Lobster pots are brought in this month and the fleets of nets are shot, problem is that LA fishermen, I am told, cannot land cod through October for reasons of conservation. However, where a quota is available, say Cornwall, local fisherman can buy part of that quota from a fisherman there and land the cod here. So are these cod that have made their way here from the West Country and, if so, where have the displaced LA cod gone?

Green, green grass of home

Proud to report that the little Western Road community garden I was delighted in some small way to help construct won an ‘attaboy’ in the Your Neighbourhood Britain in Bloom and we have a laminated certificate to prove it. It just goes to show what can be done when the council and folk pull together.